Method for obtaining information about a farm animal

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to a method for obtaining information about a farm animal, wherein a device (a) is attached to the head region of an animal, said device containing at least one acceleration sensor by means of which recurring acceleration data is measured, wherein the acceleration data is evaluated using automatic data processing means, and, as an outcome of the evaluation, is indicative of the activities and/or conditions of the animal. The acquired acceleration data is evaluated in order to detect the swallowing processes carried out by the animal.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a U.S. National Phase Application under 35 U.S.C.371 of International Application No. PCT/AT2015/000155 filed on Dec. 3,2015 and published in German as WO 2016/086248 A1 on Jun. 9, 2016. Thisapplication is based on and claims the benefit of priority from AustrianPatent Application No. A 874/2014 filed Dec. 3, 2014 and Austrian PatentApplication No. A 17812015 filed Mar. 27, 2015. The entire disclosuresof all of the above applications are incorporated herein by reference.

The invention relates to a method for obtaining information about a farmanimal. The farm animal to which the method is applied can typically bea milk cow; information which is obtained here relates typically to thequantity of feed which is consumed on a daily basis, a information aboutcomponents of the feed which is consumed, information relating to themilk yield, the time of mating and the optimum insemination time, andinformation about the rumination activity.

For the execution of the method, an acceleration sensor which measuresdata repeatedly is attached to the head area of an animal, and whereinthe data which is measured by the acceleration sensor on the animal istransmitted to an evaluation station and evaluated in the evaluationstation.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,618,861 A has already published the proposal, in 1986,to equip an animal with a movement sensor and to infer on the basis ofthe automatically observed rate of movements per day whether theanimal—typically a cow—is on heat or not. For example, anacceleration-dependent switch suspended from a neck band and whichsupplies a counting pulse whenever it is accelerated by more than aspecific threshold value is proposed as a movement sensor. By means ofstatistical analysis it is possible to detect a tendency as to whetherthe animal is likely to be on heat or not likely to be so.

EP 2007192 B1 specifies more wide-ranging ideas with respect to themethod known from U.S. Pat. No. 4,618,861 A. By means of sensors whichare arranged on the head of an animal, typically a cow, a multiplicityof orientation parameters and movement parameters are measured(acceleration in various directions, distance from the ground etc.) andby evaluation of this primary data it is inferred whether the animal iswalking, is standing or is lying down. Characteristic changes in thefrequencies of the latter are used to detect the times of the animalbeing on heat, its fertility and birth. Optionally, further measurementsare made, for example about the duration of eating activities, andtherefore the inferences are expanded or the accuracy of the inferencesis improved.

DE 36 10 960 A1 has already published the idea, in 1987, of equipping ananimal in agricultural husbandry with a sensor which repeatedly measuresa state variable of the animal and transmits the measurement result toevaluation point so that the inferences can be made automatically aboutthe state of health of the animal, and for example, the feed can beadapted automatically. The acceleration is mentioned as a possible statevariable to be measured; it is integrated over time. The result isinterpreted as an average movement of the actual animal. Rumination isnot mentioned.

EP 1301068 B1 (priority year 2000) proposes sensing the duration of therumination of an animal within a relatively long, predetermined timeperiod through noise analysis and drawing inferences about the feed or astate of the animal therefrom. Rumination as such is detected by thedifference between the noises of the regurgitation of a bolus and thechewing of a bolus. Disruptive limitations arise owing to the high levelof energy consumption due to the long measuring period which isnecessary. There is no mention of the measurement of acceleration.

WO2007119070 A1 proposes sensing a multiplicity of different modes ofbehavior of an animal by means of sensors such as noise sensors,multi-axial acceleration sensors, temperature sensors etc., transmittingthese modes of behavior in a wireless fashion to an evaluation unit andinferring a multiplicity of states of the animal by means of evaluation.It is proposed to detect rumination on the basis of the results of noisesensors.

EP 2205146 B1 (priority 2007) proposes attaching a component equippedwith plurality sensors to the external auditory canal of an animal, saidcomponent measuring the temperature at at least two locations and also,in addition, being able to measure other variables such as, for example,noises or accelerations. It is proposed, inter alia, to measure arumination activity by means of the sensor; however, it is not explainedfurther how the measurement is implemented and which rumination activitythis relates to precisely.

DE 601 33 106 T2 (German translation of EP 1 301 066 B1) proposes usinga noise sensor and evaluation logic to measure on a ruminant a variablewhich indicates the activity of rumination and detecting the duration ofrumination automatically within a defined time period. The knowledgeacquired with this is cased to generate information relating to thephysiological state of the animal and/or relating to desired changes inthe feed in order to optimize the milk yield or to maintain the healthof the animal.

In CH 700 494 81 (priority 2010) it is proposed to equip cattle with ahead collar, to the noseband of which a pressure sensor is attachedwhich measures continuously and whose measurement results are recordedby a measuring log. In this way, chewing activity such as, inparticular, rumination, can be detected, since in this context themeasured pressure profile fluctuates periodically in a characteristicfashion. It is disadvantageous that the head collar has to be fixed veryfirmly for the pressure measurement to function reliably.

A publication entitled “Goldmedaille für Rumiwatch [Gold medal forRumiwatch]” dated Nov. 7, 2012 was published, at least on Mar. 15, 2014,at the Internet addresshttp://www.landi.ch/deu/goldmedaille-fuer-quotrumiwatchquot_1250893.shtml.In said publication, the device according to CH 700 494 81 discussedabove is described in combination with further sensors and at least oneevaluation unit. For example, monitoring is carried out of how manychewing actions a bolus is chewed during rumination before it isswallowed again. A reduced number of chewing actions per bolus isconsidered to indicate digestion problems or feeding errors.

In WO 2015041548 A1 which was not published until the priority date ofthe present application it is proposed to attach different sensors,inter alia also acceleration sensors, to an animal. A type of wellbeingparameter is inferred from analysis of the acceleration data, inter aliaby formation of mean values over the individual frequencies determinedduring a Fourier analysis. Likewise, by using an acceleration frequencythe weight of the animal is inferred. It is also proposed to measure thechewing frequency during rumination; however, it is proposed to usenoise analyses.

The general identification of a problem which has led to the inventionconsists in making available a method for obtaining information aboutcows, with the aid of which it is automatically possible to monitor andassess the consumption of feed, to assess the milk yield capability of acow without direct measurement of the quantity of milk and to detect thetime when it will be on heat and the optimum insemination time. Incomparison with methods which are already available for these purposes,the new method is to be better at supplying reliable information and/oris to entail less unpleasantness and expenditure for the animal and itscaretakers.

A more specific object on which the invention is based on makingavailable a method for evaluating sensor data of a sensor which isattached in a device on the head area of a ruminant, wherein the sensormeasures a state variable, dependent on the rumination, at the locationwhere the device is attached, and the sensor data is automaticallyconditioned in such a way that relevant information about the state ofhealth of the animal and/or about an effect of the feed consumed by theanimal can be determined from the final result. Compared to the methodswhich were previously known in this respect, the improvements comprisethe fact that significantly less electrical energy is consumed whenaveraged over time by the device attached to the animal and that thereis no need for a head collar carried along on the animal or similarcomplicated mounting device.

In order to solve the problem it is proposed that acceleration data berecorded at the head area of the animal and evaluated to the effect thatswallowing processes which the animal carries out are detected.

Firstly, by counting the swallowing processes it is possible to makevery valuable inferences as explained in more detail below. Secondly, bydetecting the swallowing processes it becomes possible to identify timesbetween swallowing processes to evaluate only that acceleration datawhich originates from times between swallowing processes, in order toobtain information about the chewing activity of the animal. Therefore,the information which is obtained about the chewing activity of theanimal becomes very accurate and reliable and permits very wide-ranginginferences.

The number of swallowing processes per defined time period, typicallyper day, correlates very directly to the quantity of feed consumed orruminated in the time period or the quantity of water drunk. Thesequantities influence the state of the monitored animal very directly andare influenced much more directly by the respective state of the animal.As a result, the information relating to the state of the animal, whichis obtained from the measurements, has a comparatively high level ofreliability.

The quantity of feed consumed per time period correlates extremelydirectly to the expected milk yield in the case of cows.

Reduced consumption of feed per time period is a clear indication ofbeing on heat in the case of healthy animals. Since the time period ofbeing on heat—not only the start but also the end—can be detected well,the optimum time period for the insemination can be detected well. Theoptimum time period for the insemination coincides with the tolerancephase which starts a day after the end of the heat phenomena and in thecase of cows which have per se a very high consumption of feed per timeperiod is shorter, for example four hours, and otherwise approximatelytwelve hours. As a result of the proposed method according to theinvention, useful information about the duration of the tolerance phaseis therefore also obtained.

In one preferred development of the method, not only the swallowingprocesses are counted but also the chewing actions, that is to say thebiting actions carried out during a chewing movement. The ratio of thenumber of chewing actions to the number of swallowing processesprovides, inter alia, statements about the ratio of the portion of rawfiber to the proportion of protein in the feed which is consumed andabout the health of the animal. The biting actions carried out duringchewing can also be detected on the basis of the evaluation ofacceleration data.

In one preferred development of the method, evaluation is also carriedout as to whether that the detected swallowing processes and, ifappropriate, chewing actions take place during the rumination or duringthe eating, that is to say the initial consumption of feed. Thisdifferentiation can also be detected on the basis of the evaluation ofacceleration data. The numerical ratio of the number of chewing actionsto the number of swallowing processes is then more informative withrespect to proportional nutrition components and/or health of an animalif it applies selectively to eating phases or rumination phases and notas an average value over both types of phase. For example, the ratio ofchewing actions to swallowing processes measured only during ruminationis known to correlate very strongly to the feed quality, the pH value inthe rumen and also with the fat content and protein content in the milk.

In one preferred development of the method, swallowing processes whichtake place because the animal is drinking are detected and countedseparately. These swallowing processes can also be detected on the basisof the evaluation of acceleration data. Since these can be used to makeconclusions about the quantity of water consumed, it is possible toimprove the inference as to whether otherwise rather dry, raw-fiber-richfeed or instead softer feed, which in a normal case is therefore alsoricher in protein, has been consumed.

The swallowing phase and chewing phases are preferably differentiated bya variance analysis of the chronological profile of the measuredacceleration data. The method can be carried out very well withautomatic data processing means and reliably supplies good results.

The number of chewing processes is also preferably measured by carryingout a Fourier transformation for the time period between two swallowingprocesses over the chronological profile of the measured accelerations,and the fundamental frequency determined here is interpreted as beingthe chewing action frequency which when multiplied by said time periodgives the number of chewing actions which have taken place. The methodcan be carried out well with automatic data processing means by applyingthe so-called FFT (Fast Fourier Transformation); even in the case of alow frequency of the underlying acceleration measurements (typically 10Hz) it also supplies reliable results.

The process of drinking is preferably identified by a variance analysisof the measured acceleration data. In this context, the time profile ofthe variance is calculated and fluctuations of the variance profile areevaluated in a specific frequency range as an indication of a drinkingprocess, and the detected frequency of the fluctuations is interpretedas a frequency of the swallowing processes during drinking. The methodcan be carried out well with automatic data processing means andsupplies reliable results.

In one preferred development of the method, not only are accelerationsmeasured automatically on the animal but monitoring is also carried outof the animal's location.

Depending on whether the animal is located in a specific place andpossibly on how long it has already been there, a greater or smalleramount of acceleration data is recorded and the evaluation of theacceleration data with respect to the determination of specific actionsis intensified or reduced. For example, acceleration data does not needto be recorded with respect to possible drinking and evaluated if it isclearly apparent from the monitoring of the location that the animal islocated at a place at which there is certainly nothing to drink.Therefore, expenditure of energy on acceleration measurements andtransmission of data can be reduced and expenditure on calculations canbe avoided, and the trustworthiness of results which are actuallyobtained can be improved.

The determination of the location of the animal can be carried out, forexample, using a system for radio-based location determination which isknown per se and in which the animal carries a radio node. Simple andalso helpful determination of locations can, however, for example, alsobe carried out by means of RFID transponders and proximity sensors forthe transponders which are attached to the animal. In this context, theproximity sensors are at locations which are characteristic ofactivities of interest, for example troughs, eating locations, lyinglocations at which the animals like to ruminate.

In one particularly preferred embodiment of the invention, theacceleration measurement data obtained is evaluated in order to acquirethe numerical value of such a quantifiable variable which describes, ifappropriate, an instantaneous state of the ruminating process.(“Quantifiable variable” is to be understood as meaning a variable whichdoes not necessarily require numerical data to describe it completely.)

The phase in which a ruminant ruminates is divided into a multiplicityof individual cycles occurring chronologically one after the other,wherein an individual cycle comprises a phase, a chewing phase andregurgitating swallowing phase. During the regurgitating phase, aquantity of feed which is referred to as a “bolus” is moved from therumen of the animal into its mouth. During the chewing phase the bolusis comminuted more finely in the mouth by chewing movements. Theindividual bites which are carried out during the chewing movements arereferred to as “chewing actions”. During the swallowing phase, the bolusis swallowed again.

The chewing phase can be differentiated from the outside compared to theother two phases through, for example, relatively large head movementsof the animal which are periodic with the frequency of the chewingactions, and also through characteristic noises.

Since the animal's head is moved in a characteristic way duringrumination, the rumination c be recognized principally through themeasurement of acceleration.

The sensors which are necessary for measuring acceleration can befabricated without difficulty and in such a small size that they canreadily be placed, for example, in an ear tag (also including anecessary energy accumulator such as typically a battery).

Since knowledge about the duration of the rumination is not aimed at asa final result of the measurement and of the evaluation but ratherquantified knowledge about an instantaneous state of a ruminationprocess which is, if appropriate, taking place currently, it issufficient if chronologically relatively short measurements are carriedout only at relatively long time intervals. As a result, a comparativelyextremely small expenditure of energy can be found to be sufficient.

In one preferred embodiment, the quantifiable variable obtained byevaluating the sensor data is the number of chewing actions by bolus.This number is known to correlate in the case of cows with the feedquality, the pH value in the ruminant and also the fat content andprotein content in the milk.

In another preferred embodiment, the quantifiable variable which isobtained by evaluating the sensor data is the frequency of the chewingactions during the chewing phase in a bolus cycle. This frequency isknown to correlate in the case of cows to the feed quality, the pH valuein the rumen and also to the fat content and protein content of themilk, in a similar fashion to the number of chewing actions per bolus.

The method according to the invention is explained in more detail belowwith reference to drawings and the detailed description of the“rumination” example:

FIG. 1: shows a flowchart of the central, cyclically repeating processsequence of an advantageous exemplary method according to the invention,and

FIG. 2: shows a profile of the absolute value of the accelerationplotted over time, measured by means of acceleration measurement on ananimal which is currently ruminating.

The phase in which a ruminant ruminates is divided into a multiplicityof individual cycles occurring chronologically one after the other,wherein an individual cycle comprises a regurgitating phase, a chewingphase and a swallowing phase. During the regurgitating phase, a quantityof feed which is referred to as a “bolus” is moved from the rumen of theanimal into its mouth. During the chewing phase, the bolus is comminutedmore finely in the mouth by means of chewing movements. The individualbites which are carried out during the chewing movements are referred toas “chewing actions”. During the swallowing phase, the bolus isswallowed again. The chewing phase can be differentiated from theoutside compared to the other two phases through, for example,relatively large head movements of the animal which are periodic withthe frequency of the chewing actions, and also through characteristicnoises.

For the method according to the invention, the head movements aremeasured with the aid of acceleration sensors. The sensors which arenecessary for measuring acceleration can be fabricated withoutdifficulty in such a small size that they can readily be placed, forexample, in an ear tag (also including a necessary energy accumulatorsuch as typically a battery).

The necessary acceleration sensors are, if required, of course alsoavailable for other measurements than for the purpose according to theinvention here. Examples of this are gait analyses and the determinationof miscellaneous activities or positions of the animal such as e.g.eating, walking or lying.

The position numbers 1 to 11 according to FIG. 1 signify processes whichare additionally symbolized in FIG. 1 by labeled boxes or other symbolsand occur essentially one after the other in the chronological sequencecharacterized by arrows.

The upper rectangle a illustrated using dotted lines according to FIG. 1surround symbols 1, 2 for processes which also take place in the devicewhich is carried along on the animal. The rectangle a thereforesymbolizes a device which is carried along on the ruminating animal,typically an ear tag. This device contains at any rate either aplurality of unidimensionally measuring acceleration sensors or at leastone multidimensionally measuring acceleration sensor.

The lower rectangle b illustrated using dotted lines according to FIG. 1surrounds symbols for processes 4 to 11 which ideally occur in anevaluation section which is separate from the animal, typicallylocationally fixed, and which has a connection 3, 10 to the device onthe animal, via which connection bidirectional transmission of data ispossible. This connection is typically a wireless radio connection. Therectangle b therefore symbolizes an evaluation station.

In step 1 “3D-ACC” acceleration data is recorded in three coordinatedirections which are perpendicular to one another. Good results can beobtained if the measuring frequency is 10 Hz, that is to say if therespective acceleration is measured ten times per second respectively ineach of the three coordinate directions.

Step 2 “STO” means the buffering of the data measured in step 1 in adata memory which is located in the device on the animal. For example,acceleration data is measured over a time period of two minutes and isall written into the data memory.

In step 3, a radio link is set up between the device a on the animal andthe typically fixed evaluation station b, and the acceleration datawhich is stored in the device a is transmitted via said link to theevaluation station b.

In step 4 “SW/K” the measured acceleration data, which, of course,represents a chronological profile of accelerations of the device a, areevaluated in order to detect which data can be assigned to chewingphases (“K” in FIG. 2) and which data can be assigned toswallowing/regurgitation phases (“SW” in FIG. 2). During the chewingphases, a nutrition bolus which is located in the mouth of theruminating animal is finely comminuted by chewing movements. During aswallowing-regurgitation phase, the finely comminuted feed is firstlyswallowed and then a new bolus, which is initially composed of feedwhich has not yet been finely comminuted is regurgitated into the mouthfrom the rumen. Generally, the swallowing-regurgitation phase isassociated with significantly smaller accelerations and changes inacceleration than the chewing phase.

The differentiation between the chewing phases andswallowing-regurgitation phases is very successful by virtue of anadapted form of the variance analysis of the measurement results. Forthis purpose, in each case a total amount of an overall acceleration ispreferably calculated first from the respective three accelerationvalues which were recorded per measuring time by geometric addition. (Aresulting profile of the absolute acceleration over time is shown by wayof example in FIG. 2. Two swallowing-regurgitation phases (“SW”) and achewing phase (“K”) which lies between these are also marked in FIG. 2.)In each case two partial quantities are used from the total quantity ofthe data series obtained, at which partial quantities the associatedacceleration measurements occur in two adjoining time windows of themeasuring time period. In each case the variance is calculated from thetwo partial quantities. (The variance is the sum of the squares of thedistances of the individual values from the mean value over all theindividual values divided by the number of individual values). The twoobtained variance values which each apply for one of the two timewindows are compared with one another. A significant difference in thevariance values is an indication that in the region of the boundarybetween the two time windows there is a transition between a chewingphase and a swallowing-regurgitation phase. These variance calculationsare repeated for chronologically shifted pairs of time windows, but thetwo windows of one pair adjoin one another in each case. In a firststage of the calculation the time window pairs can be shifted from onevariance calculation to another by rather large steps so that the entiretime range is passed through quickly. For those time ranges for whichindications of phase transitions between the chewing phase andswallowing-regurgitation phase are found here, the variance calculationsare repeated, wherein from one calculation to the next the time windowpairs are shifted by a relatively small time increment, so that the timeof the transition between two phases can be set more precisely.

Since the accelerations are, of course, measured independently of whattriggered them, even events which are nothing to do with rumination, forexample cattle being frightened by a violent event or an ear beingshaken in order to scare away a fly, act on the result of theacceleration measurements. So that such events have as little possibleeffect on the result of the evaluation of the measurements, only thosephases between two phases interpreted as swallowing-regurgitation phasesare accepted as chewing phases of the rumination for the furtherevaluation of the rumination, which chewing phases are not shorter thana certain minimum duration (for example 25 seconds) and also not longerthan a certain maximum duration (for example 70 seconds).

In steps 5 to 8, operations for the measurement with respect torumination are there only continued with acceleration data which hasbeen recognized as being associated precisely with one chewing phase instep 4. In addition to the detection of the start and end, this alsoinvolved the fact that it was detected that there was no interruptionbetween the start and the end and that the interval between the startand the end is a time period which is realistic for the chewing phasesduring rumination.

Step 5 “1 to N”: three acceleration phases were respectively measured atthe individual measuring times in step 1, wherein the individual valuesrepresent the acceleration in one coordinate direction in each case. Thevalue triple of a measurement of an individual point in time thereforesignifies a vector in the space, the direction of which depends on theratios between the magnitudes of the three individual accelerationmeasurements, and the absolute value of which is obtained from geometricaddition of the individual components. The respective vector which isdefined by the three measured acceleration components, in terms ofdirection and absolute value, changes from one measuring time to thenext. In step 5, it is calculated how large the component of theindividual measured acceleration vectors occurring in the respectivedirection is for a multiplicity of directions which are assumed in thespace in a “hedgehog-like fashion”, for example a hundred directions.For this purpose, the scalar product of the unit vector (vector with alength of 1) in the respective direction can be calculated with therespective acceleration vector.

Over all the acceleration measurements of a chewing phase this meansgeometrically that a multiplicity of path profiles is derived from thesingle curve, running in the three-dimensional space and formed byconnecting the tips of the acceleration vectors to one another in achronologically ordered fashion, wherein each individual path profileoccurs on precisely only one direction line in the space and preciselyonly one path profile occurs on each direction line. (A “direction line”in the space in this sense is a straight line through the origin of theassumed coordinate system).

In step 6 “FFT” (A Fourier transformation) is carried out for each ofthe many path profiles which were calculated in step 5 and which eachoccur only along one direction vector in the space. That is to say theprofile of a scalar variable (absolute value of the acceleration) overtime is no longer represented as a sequence of value pairs of point intime/absolute value of the acceleration but rather as a sum ofsinusoidal oscillations which are determined individually by frequency,amplitude and phase, wherein in this case the amplitude symbolizes anacceleration. In a specialist field, in particular what is referred toas an FFT (Fast Fourier Transformation) is best known and has beenintroduced as an algorithm for Fourier transformation for digital dataprocessing, for which reason more details will not be given on thishere. The result of the step 6 is therefore a separate Fourierrepresentation for each of the individual acceleration profiles plottedagainst the time—which acceleration profiles are each geometricallyoriented along an individual direction vector of the direction vectors.

In step 7 “N to 1”, that Fourier representation which most clearly showsa frequency distribution from which the chewing rhythm of the currentlyruminating animal can be read off is filtered out from the individualFourier representations (each individual representation of whichrespectively stands for a direction in the space). This is then the caseif, in that frequency range in which the chewing frequency has beenfound empirically to occur, either a single oscillation relating to theamplitude dominates clearly over all the other oscillations in thisfrequency range or if in this frequency range only very fewoscillations, associated locally with respect to their frequency,dominate clearly in this frequency range with respect to the amplitudeover all the other oscillations. In the first case, the frequency of theindividual oscillation is the searched-for chewing frequency. In thesecond case, the chewing frequency can be determined by extending aparabola, the axis of symmetry of which is parallel to the ordinate, inthe Fourier representation, through those points through which the threemost dominant oscillations are defined (the abscissa corresponds tofrequency, the ordinate corresponds to the amplitude). The abscissavalue of the location of the apex of the parabola is the searched-forchewing frequency.

In the case of cattle, the chewing frequency in the case of ruminationis in the region from approximately 40 to approximately 85 chewingactions per minute (0.67 to 1.42 Hz), typically in the range from 60 to70 chewing actions per minute (1 to 1.17 Hz).

In step 8 “Count Sum” counters can be reset and obtained if result canbe output. The outputting of a result relating to the instantaneousvalue of a variable describing rumination can be the chewing frequencyor still better the number of chewing actions per bolus. In order to beable to specify the number of chewing actions per bolus, the chewingfrequency is to be multiplied by the duration of the chewing phasedetermined in step 4.

A counter counts the chewing actions taking place during rumination. Atthe value which is already located in this counter, the number ofchewing actions determined in the last processing cycle is added. Thisnumber is obtained as the calculated chewing frequency multiplied by theduration of the respective chewing phase which is bounded by twoswallowing-regurgitation phases, the detection of which took place instep 4.

A second counter counts the swallowing processes taking place during therumination. At the value already located in this counter, the value 1 isadded per swallowing-regurgitation phase.

In step 9 “Control direct”, a first subordinate control unit defineswhen a measuring attempt is to be started again by the device a carriedon the animal, and possibly also how long, if appropriate, measurementis to take place. The rules according to which this takes place in step9 are defined by a superordinate logic process 11 “Control superior” inaccordance with the outlined example.

For the monitoring of the state of an animal by determining the numberof bites per bolus during rumination it is not necessary to performmeasurement continuously. For example, it may be sufficient if thenumber of chewing actions per bolus during rumination is determinedsuccessfully three or four times a day.

If the aim is to find the instantaneous value of a variable whichdescribes the rumination, ideally a logic is stored which startsmeasuring processes more frequently on the day (for example every halfhour) until the number of successful measuring processes at whichrumination was actually detected and analyzed has reached the amountwhich is necessary for one day. Of course, this logic can also beinfluenced by further processes such as, for example, the age of theanimal, indications of it being on heat or chronological proximity to abirth event or suspicion of illnesses. There is ideally also thepossibility of this logic being edited by a person using an inputdevice. The described method is therefore highly efficiently in terms ofenergy consumption in the device a located on the animal because themeasurements do not have to be carried out continuously but rather onlya couple of times per day so that the operating time of the device a perday can be for example in the range of 1% of the daily duration. It istherefore possible to ensure that the battery in the device a can lastfor a very long time.

In step 10, a radio link is set up between the (fixed) device b and thedevice a located on the animal, and the determinations relating to thedevice a are communicated to the device a. In so far as measurement isnot carried out continuously in any case, this relates at least to thetime of the next measuring cycle.

The described evaluation of the measurement data according to steps 4 to8 appears to be costly. However, in fact it is easy to carry out sinceit can be carried out on a fixed device, for example a PC, and sincecomputing capacity, energy and time can be sufficiently made availablevery easily therein. As a result of the highly developed evaluation, therisk of incorrect measurements is very low and the measuring accuracywhich is achieved is very good even though few, relatively shortmeasuring cycles, at an extremely low measuring frequency (typically 10Hz) are sufficient on the animal.

The described method for finding out the instantaneous value of aquantifiable variable which describes the rumination can be modifiedand/or expanded in many respects within the inventive concept. In thisrespect the following is to be noted:

For example during the evaluation of the data it would be possible todispense with the detours via the projection of the acceleration vectorsto a large number of individual direction vectors (step 5), the Fouriertransformations of the accelerations per individual direction vector andthe search for the Fourier transformation which is most informative, andinstead to measure accelerations with a relatively high measuringfrequency in device a (approximately 100 measurements per second insteadof 10 measurements) and to find out the times of extreme values througha comparison of the magnitude of successive measurement results and toinfer from their intervals the frequency of oscillations and ultimatelythe chewing frequency or the duration of individual chewing actions.However, owing to the relatively high measuring frequency more energywould be used in device a, and owing to the lower reliability of theacquired measurement results it would be necessary to carry outmeasurements very much more often and to attempt to achieve sufficientmeasuring accuracy and reliability of the direction through theformation of averages and through further logic filters. In order toachieve equally good accuracy and reliability the energy consumption perday in the device a located on the animal would therefore bedramatically higher; presumably the hardware in the device a would haveto be constructed in a more costly fashion so that more accelerationmeasurements can be carried out over time and that more measurementresults can be buffered. However, a smaller consumption of energy wouldnevertheless presumably be found to be sufficient than when simplymeasuring the duration of the rumination per day in a general way.

For example, before a measuring cycle which is to be carried out on thedevice a in order to record the accelerations during the rumination ofat least one bolus, a significantly shorter measuring cycle can becarried out, by means of which it is determined whether there areactually sufficient accelerations for rumination to be possiblyoccurring. The evaluation in this respect can comprise, for example, thefact that measured values of the accelerations are summed up over ashort duration and the result is compared with a threshold value, andcan also already be carried out on the device a located on the animal.If in this context it is determined that rumination is in factdefinitely not occurring, the pending measurement relating to ruminationcan be postponed by a defined duration, for example half an hour.

The transmission of data between the device a located on the animal andthe evaluation station b does not necessarily have to occur in awireless fashion by radio. It can, for example, also occur by means ofelectrical conduction using the animal's body as an electrical conductoras soon as the animal touches an electrode which is in contact with theevaluation station, or at least comes so close to the electrode thatcapacitive signal transmission is possible.

It is also possible to carry out Fourier transformation on the raw dataof the acceleration measurements or on fewer data items from theacceleration measurements to be processed according to FIG. 1. Thefrequency of the chewing actions can, if appropriate, also be read outto a certain extent from the relevant results, but the result is lessaccurate and less unambiguous than according to the sequence describedwith reference to FIG. 1.

For the quantifiable variable which was obtained by evaluating thesensor data and which, under certain circumstances, indicates somethingabout an instantaneous state of the rumination process, in addition tothe already described variables “number of the chewing actions perbolus” and “chewing frequency”, for example the following variables arealso possible within the inventive concept length of the chewing phase,length of the regurgitation phase, length of the swallowing phase, ratioof said phase lengths with respect to one another, averaged magnitudesof accelerations during individual phases, ratios of magnitudes ofaccelerations in different phases.

The method which is described in detail for the measurement of therumination can be applied in a largely analogous fashion for themeasurement of the consumption of feed, that is to say eating. Theconsumption of feed also occurs in repeating sequences of, in each case,a plurality of chewing actions and a swallowing process. Differenceswith respect to rumination relate to the frequency of the chewingactions (this is higher than in the case of rumination) and the durationbetween two swallowing processes (this is shorter than in the case ofrumination), as well as the fact that a swallowing process takes up lesstime during the consumption of feed than a swallowing-regurgitationprocess during rumination.

In the case of the consumption of feed, a lower number of chewingactions between two swallowing processes is an indication of feed whichis rich in protein; a larger number of chewing actions between twoswallowing processes is, on the other hand, an indication of feed with arelatively high portion of long fibers.

Instead of counting the chewing actions during the consumption of feed,it is also possible to measure the duration between successiveswallowing processes. The information about this duration relating tothe feed and the state of the animal can be tendentially compared withthe information about the numerical ratio from the chewing actions andswallowing processes because a relatively long duration between twoswallowing processes goes hand in hand with a relatively high number ofchewing actions between two swallowing processes. However, according toprevious observations the number of chewing actions per swallowingprocess appears to be more informative as a basis for comparison betweendifferent animals than the duration between two swallowing processes.The chewing frequency from animal to animal appears to fluctuate moregreatly than the quantity of feed moved during a swallowing process.

Drinking can be detected extremely well from the measured accelerationdata by means of a variance analysis in the form of comparison of thevariance within two adjoining time windows, as described above for theexample of rumination. Given relatively low acceleration values there isa sequence, which repeats with a slow rhythm, composed of a relativelylong suction phase during which virtually no acceleration takes placeand a relatively short swallowing phase with a relatively highacceleration. The period duration of a cycle which is composed ofsucking and swallowing is typically 5 to 10 seconds in cows.

The superordinate logic process 11 “Control superior” is a superordinatecontrol process. For example, in said process further influencingvariables other than only time and acceleration values can be taken intoaccount. Typically events of a localization are taken into account andprocessed logically as well as prescriptions which can be defined on auser interface in such a way that they can be edited. By virtue of theprocess 11, further process steps, by which the measured accelerationdata is examined and evaluated to determine whether, and if so how,consumption of feed or drinking takes place, can be controlled inparallel with or as an alternative to the process steps 4 to 8.

Likewise, by means of the superordinate process 11 it is possible todetect—typically on the basis of acceleration data—whether rumination,consumption of feed or drinking is at all occurring. If none of theseoccurs for a relatively long time, the recording and detailed analysisof acceleration measurement data can be restricted, that is to say canbe carried out on a “sample basis” oral in periods which are relativelywidely spaced apart. Therefore, in particular in the sleeping phases itis possible to save energy in the device a. The device a is, of course,carried in a mobile fashion on the animal and therefore requires abattery or an accumulator.

In the process 11, the counting results of step a are also stored and,if appropriate, processed further to form further information, ifnecessary alarms etc. Likewise, if appropriate results relating to theconsumption of feed or drinking can be stored and processed further.

By means of the further processing, for example the followinginformation is generated, and can also be output:

-   -   Number of swallowing processes per day    -   Number of swallowing processes during the consumption of feed        per day    -   Ratio of numbers of chewing actions per swallowing process        during the rumination    -   Ratio of numbers of chewing actions per swallowing process        during consumption of feed    -   Number of swallowing processes while drinking    -   Deviations from the average value of the individual numbers or        ratio of numbers with respect to a standardized value (or the        respective average value for the herd)    -   Deviations from the average value of the individual numbers or        ratio of numbers with respect to the average value for the same        animal in preceding (selectable) time periods    -   Information on the extent to which the above deviations are an        indication of, for example, the animal being on heat yes/no,        predicted optimum insemination time period, too much or too        little protein . . .    -   Miscellaneous information on the state: healthy normal state,        supposed milk yield . . .

The method according to the invention has mainly been explained anddescribed until now with reference to the application for milk cows.

Within the scope of the activity of a person skilled in the art, saidmethod can also be adapted for application to other animals. For thisadaptation, essentially the characterizing acceleration values,variances and repetition frequencies of processes are to be identifiedand the evaluation methods correspondingly adjusted.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A method for obtaining information about afarm animal, the method comprising: measuring and recording accelerationdata with a device, wherein the device is attached to a head area of ananimal, and wherein the device contains at least one acceleration sensorto repeatedly measure acceleration data; obtaining the recordedacceleration data from the device; detecting, from the recordedacceleration data, swallowing processes; calculating a number ofswallowing processes in response to detecting swallowing processes;detecting, from the recorded acceleration data, chewing actions;calculating a number of chewing actions in response to detecting chewingactions; determining, based on the number of swallowing processes andthe number of chewing actions, a health metric of the farm animal; anddetermining, based on the number of swallowing processes and the numberof chewing actions, a quality metric of an item being chewed.
 2. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising: differentiating periods in whichthe animal swallows from periods in which the animal chews; andcalculating and comparing variants between the recorded accelerationdata within adjoining time windows.
 3. The method of claim 2, furthercomprising counting a number of swallowing processes and the number ofchewing actions a period of 24 hours.
 4. The method of claim 3, whereinthe period is from an end of one swallowing phase to a start of a nextswallowing phase.
 5. The method of claim 1, further comprising countingthe swallowing processes.
 6. The method of claim 5, further comprisingstoring: a number of swallowing processes per day, a number ofswallowing processes during consumption of feed per day, a ratio ofnumbers of chewing actions per swallowing process during rumination, aratio of numbers of chewing actions per swallowing process duringconsumption of feed, a number of swallowing processes while drinking,deviations from an average value of previously listed numbers and ratioscorresponding to a standardized value and/or an average value for aherd, deviations from the average value of the previously listed numbersand ratios corresponding to the average value for the same animal inpreceding periods, information about a state of the animal includinginformation about a time of mating, information about a predictedoptimum insemination period, information about a ratio of long fibercontent with respect to protein content in feed, information about asupposed milk yield, information about a state of health.
 7. The methodof claim 1, further comprising: calculating the number of chewingactions during a period by carrying out a Fourier transformation duringthe period over a chronological profile of the recorded accelerationdata; determining a fundamental frequency; interpreting the fundamentalfrequency as being a chewing action frequency; and multiplying thechewing action frequency by a length of the period.
 8. The method ofclaim 7, further comprising: measuring acceleration in three respectivecoordinate directions; measuring acceleration vectors at individualmeasuring times calculating an absolute value of each directionalcomponent of the respective acceleration vector, wherein eachdirectional component is parallel to a respective direction assumed in aspace; forming a data series for each direction assumed in the space,over a chronological sequence of the acceleration components oriented inthe respective direction; and performing the Fourier transformation atone or more of the data series.
 9. The method of claim 8, furthercomprising: performing the Fourier transformation for a multiplicity ofdata series, wherein the multiplicity of data series are each assignedto another direction in the space; identifying a single oscillation witha highest amplitude over all the other oscillations in a frequency rangethat a frequency of the chewing actions occur; and interpreting thesingle oscillation as the frequency of the chewing actions.
 10. Themethod of claim 8, further comprising: performing the Fouriertransformation for a multiplicity of data series, wherein themultiplicity of data series are each assigned to another direction inthe space; identifying three oscillations with a highest amplitude overall other oscillations in a frequency range that a frequency of thechewing actions occur, wherein the three oscillations occurconsecutively; and interpreting an apex point of a parabola occurs withan axis of symmetry parallel to a coordinate direction, and intersectsthe three oscillations as the frequency of the chewing actions.
 11. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising: counting swallowing processesinvolved in a drinking process separately.
 12. The method of claim 11,further comprising: identifying the drinking process by varianceanalysis of the recorded acceleration data, wherein fluctuations in avariance profile within a predetermined frequency range are evaluated asan indication of an occurrence of the drinking process.
 13. The methodof claim 1, further comprising: applying the method to a ruminant,wherein the recorded acceleration data is evaluated to detect whetherthe swallowing processes and the chewing actions occur duringconsumption of feed or during rumination, and wherein the swallowingprocesses during consumption of feed are counted separately fromswallowing processes during rumination.
 14. The method of claim 1,further comprising: determining, using the recorded acceleration data, ameasured value of a quantifiable variable corresponding to aninstantaneous state of a ruminating process, wherein the farm animal isa ruminant.
 15. The method of claim 14, wherein the measured value ofthe quantifiable variable relates to a frequency of chewing actionsduring rumination.
 16. The method of claim 14, further comprising:assigning, based on the recorded acceleration data, individualacceleration data items as a chewing phase or a swallowing/regurgitatingphase of the ruminating process; and evaluating individual accelerationdata items assigned to the chewing phase.
 17. The method of claim 16,further comprising: calculating a variance of the recorded accelerationdata or a variable correlating to the variance of the recordedacceleration data over two time windows, wherein the two time windowsare consecutive and correspond to a period during the measuring andrecording the acceleration data; and interpreting a difference of thevariance over the two time windows as a change between the chewing phaseand the swallowing/regurgitating phase of the ruminating process. 18.The method of claim 16, further comprising: assigning the recordedacceleration data to the chewing phase or the swallowing/regurgitatingphase based on a series of chronologically successive accelerationvalues of the recorded acceleration data, wherein each signify anabsolute value of a total acceleration at a measuring time and can becalculated for the respective measuring time by geometric addition ofindividual acceleration values measured in individual coordinationdirections at the respective measuring time.
 19. The method of claim 16,further comprising: calculating a number of chewing actions per portionof feed by multiplying a frequency of the chewing actions by a durationof the chewing phase.